Rising gas prices have pushed up the demand for alternative fuels, ethanol being right at the top of the list.

Since ethanol is made with corn, corn prices are nearing a 10-year high. Corn prices will have a huge impact on food across the board. Outside of its role as a dinner table staple, it's a primary feed for livestock, a sweetener and a thickener, among myriad other uses.

So, watch for meat prices to start to rise soon and look for other products to follow.

Futher down the road -- and this has more to do with my personal axe to grind than any basis in reality -- maybe there will be a return to cane and (Michigan cash crop) beet sugars as sweeteners.